Chapter 82: Miss Hong’s Brilliant Strategy
“How did you know?
Are you saying that you were a corrupt official before?”
Yun Ce pushed away Miss Hong’s finger pointing right in front of his eyes and said indifferently: “Rich people are the most stingy people in this world. They can squander money, throw away a thousand gold for their own desires, and invest ahead to earn more money, but if you take their money to help people, you must be overthinking it.
First, the tribute inexplicably increased by fifty percent, and they generously agreed to the extra fifty percent. This alone is full of suspicions.
So I think there was no extra fifty percent tribute at all. This decade’s tribute all came from those ordinary wealthy households and free people.
And you, after learning this news, notified many people, and thus, this robbery of tribute play happened right before our eyes.
Once the army kills all these dissatisfied people who were deceived, the remaining people who were tricked out of their money will have nothing but naked hatred toward City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han Du.
At that time, if you raise your arm and call out, using the reason of overthrowing City Lord Pang Bei, Inspector Han Du, and the city lords of various cities, as well as the top wealthy households, you will not only gain the support of poor people and slaves, but even those ordinary wealthy households and free people will join your ranks and help you completely overturn the entire Chuyun Prefecture.
Miss Hong, I have to say, the success rate of your meticulously arranged plan, with each ring interlocking with the next, is too high.
But, you used to care so much about human life, how did you now become someone who treats human life like weeds? Don’t you dare tell me something like ‘those who plot great things do not mind small details.’
1 Miss Hong looked at the bandits on the other side of the river being slaughtered by the soldiers, with corpses strewn everywhere, her face twitching slightly as she said: “Someone told me, we don’t seek to live well in this life, we only seek for the next generation to not be bullied.”
1 Hearing this, Yun Ce looked at Miss Hong in horror and said hoarsely: “Who is this old brother?”
1 Miss Hong had already finished eating the food in the pot, her mouth glistening with oil as she said to Yun Ce: “Don’t rush out now. The horse carriage is loaded with ambush troops. The real tribute will arrive in two hours. By then, the army will finish up and withdraw, and we can charge out together and get rich together!”
1 Seeing Miss Hong pouting her buttocks as she climbed down the tree, although her buttocks were still so round, Yun Ce felt that what was climbing the tree was not Miss Hong, but a fierce tiger.
1 The army was still killing people in the gorge. They were truly a group of killing machines. The armored soldiers in front killed, and the ones behind made sure to finish off the bandits who weren’t dead yet, then threw them into the Gaoliang River. So many dead that the river water was faintly turning red, and the corpses were densely packed, drifting with the flow.
1 Dianjun Captain Zhao Ling had been fighting at the forefront the whole time. He couldn’t count how many people his horse chopping saber had killed. Both he and his horse were soaked in blood. Even so, he still shouted fiercely in battle, the bandits’ blood dyeing his teeth red.
1 The people who came to rob relied on a burst of hot-blooded courage or anger. When they discovered that the slashed-open horse carriage contained fully armed armored soldiers, their courage and anger rapidly faded.
1 And at this moment, in the rubble pile from which they had rushed out, prefecture soldiers had appeared at some point. They formed a line, enveloping from behind like a great net.
1 “Ah, we were tricked, run!”
1 “Pang Bei, Han Du, you dog thieves, even if I die, I’ll bite off a piece of your flesh. Kill!”
2 “Spare me, I don’t want the money anymore.”
2 “General, we were deceived… urgh…”
2 What was originally not quite a one-sided slaughter turned into one after the armored soldiers from the horse carriages dismounted and joined the battle. Whether the remaining bandits or those who came to seek justice, they all died under the soldiers’ spears and cleavers.
2 Not long after, the battle in the gorge gradually subsided, but the fighting at the rubble pile became even more intense. Unfortunately, under the shooting of the archers and crossbowmen, their hastily assembled teams were all scattered and then annihilated. Only some guys who seemed to have good skill could break through the heavy encirclement and flee panic-stricken into the wasteland.
2 There, at the end of the wasteland, a large group of cavalrymen appeared like a black line at the edge of the ground, carrying the clear wind blowing from Gaoliang Mountain, mercilessly charging toward those bandits who had just escaped with their lives.
2 The tall Zhao Ling knelt before two men in wide robes and large sleeves. Yun Ce, holding the telescope, clearly saw their faces. Though he couldn’t hear what they were saying, their expressions were extremely smug.
2 They didn’t help Zhao Ling up immediately but let him continue kneeling, so the blood flowing from his armor formed two small blood lakes at his knees. Soon, these two blood lakes merged into a larger one.
2 This was a carefully orchestrated massacre, and also a means for City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han Du to intimidate those dissatisfied with paying extra money.
2 Miss Hong wanted to rob the tribute, while the city lord and inspector wanted to intimidate. The two sides unwittingly formed this inescapable killing trap.
2 They both had good harvests. It’s just that those corpses soaking in the Gaoliang River were the real losers, the true failures. After paying an economic price, they also had to pay with their lives.
3 If the city lord and inspector’s hearts were a bit darker, they would even have to pay the price of family destruction.
3 However, they no longer needed to worry. With the last corpse thrown into the Gaoliang River, Yun Ce knew that City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han Du seemed to have given up pursuing the responsibility of these dead men’s families.
3 Yun Ce felt this was a failure point. Politicians shouldn’t have inexplicable kindness. Since they had done it, they should thoroughly devour this grand dish clean.
3 They might not pursue the responsibility of those families, but the families of those who lost money and lives would absolutely not forget their hatred just because of the city lord and inspector’s extraordinary mercy.
3 In this regard, the Great Han politicians are far different from those on Earth.
3 Yun Ce looked around but didn’t see where Miss Hong and the others were hiding. However, they should be on this side of the river. There was a dense forest here that could provide them very good shelter.
3 Yun Ce always felt that Zhao Ling was looking at him. When he carefully looked through the telescope, he realized his eyes were looking toward the other side of the river; he just happened to be in the range of his gaze sweep.
3 Zhao Ling stripped naked and stood in the Gaoliang River washing off the bloodstains. There were no more corpses visible in the river; they had all been swept away by the turbulent waters.
3 City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han Du had already ridden away on thunder smoke beasts, along with a large contingent of the army. What remained were five or six hundred heavy horse carriages. The tracks from their wheels were very deep; these should be the real tribute.
3 The armored soldiers who had fought fiercely for a full four hours were already very exhausted. They didn’t leave Mo Yan Ridge but set up camp on the spot and prepared meals.
4 This great victory made them drop their guard against the dangerous environment. They cheered and feasted loudly, shouting boisterously.
4 Although Zhao Ling vigilantly glanced toward the other side of the river from time to time, seeing the turbulent Gaoliang River that was hard for men and horses to cross, he still had his personal guards lay out blankets for a good rest.
4 The city lord and inspector’s army had only left for over an hour. Miss Hong absolutely wouldn’t launch a surprise attack at this time. She should be waiting longer, until the city lord and the others went farther, to leave her enough time to rob.
4 Yun Ce guessed that Miss Hong was still waiting for these soldiers who had just fought a fierce battle to fall asleep. Once they slept, the adrenaline levels raised by the combat would rapidly drop, their strength would fade, and even their combat reactions would take time to recover.
4 Zhao Ling wasn’t wearing armor, probably thinking it uncomfortable to sleep in armor.
4 Yun Ce sat at the edge of the platform, his legs dangling below. From the start, his gaze hadn’t left Zhao Ling. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to kill Zhao Ling to fulfill his promise to Miss Hong, but from the way Zhao Ling knelt before the city lord and inspector earlier, he knew this man was their trained fierce dog that must be killed.
4 It’s always good when the enemy is a bit weaker.
4 Mo Yan Ridge, noisy all day, finally quieted down. Snoring sounds rose and fell from the other side of the river, deafening. Even Zhao Ling himself gradually fell asleep.
4 Miss Hong was still waiting, but Yun Ce had already packed up and come down from the tree, leaning against a big tree to wipe the second horse spear he got from Peng Zeng.
4 This horse spear was clearly from a famous maker. Instead of ordinary oil-soaked cloth wrapped around it, it was silk, with only the outermost three layers using non-slip yi tree fiber.
5 This spear didn’t have a broad blade but was triangular, mainly for thrusting, reducing sweeping, hooking, and chopping, with all functions focused on armor piercing.
5 A flock of flying birds suddenly flew up from the forest with a flutter. Soon, Yun Ce saw dozens of towering big trees slowly toppling. As the angle of falling increased, the speed of the big trees falling accelerated.
5 From the moment the flying birds took flight, Zhao Ling jumped up and roared loudly “Enemy attack!” while donning his armor at his fastest speed ever.
5 The big trees crashed onto the Gaoliang River, immediately forming bridges. Then Yun Ce saw Miss Hong holding a horse spear, shouting as she led the charge onto the giant logs, quickly killing toward the opposite shore.
5 At the same time, on the other giant logs appeared a long line of warriors in black armor, holding various weapons, rapidly crossing the river.
5 “Raise shields, form ranks!” Zhao Ling roared desperately while continuing to tighten his armor.
5 Seeing this, Yun Ce chuckled lightly and darted out from behind the big tree. He had no prepared giant log for a bridge, so he accelerated into a leap, his feet constantly stepping on exposed stones, crossing the Gaoliang River that was less than twenty meters wide.
5 The sharp horse spear pierced through the giant shield that hadn’t formed ranks yet, thrusting hard inside. With a teeth-grinding scraping sound, Yun Ce’s horse spear pierced the giant shield and also the armored soldier behind it.
